"Gage! What are you doing?"
Gage jumped and nearly dropped the bowl of baked beans he was taking out of the refrigerator. He turned to find Sydney balancing on her crutches in the doorway of the Walkers' kitchen.
"I was just um…. Uhhh…" Gage stumbled over his words and juggled the large glass bowl in his free hand, his left arm still in a sling.
"Those are for the cookout later!" Sydney warned.
"Well, I'm hungry now," Gage informed his partner.
"Tell me something new. You're always hungry. Alex said she was just running to the store to pick up a couple of last minute things. She should be back soon, and if she catches you eating all her food for the cookout, she'll –"
"She'll what?" Alex Cahill-Walker asked as she walked in on the scene, dropping an armload of grocery bags on the table and startling both Gage and Sydney. Both of the young rangers had been staying at the Walker ranch on Alex's insistence while they recuperated as both Gage's apartment and Sydney's house had stairs that Sydney couldn't navigate while on crutches and Gage wasn't supposed to use his left arm until he followed up with his doctor in a few weeks.
"Gage?" Alex eyed the tall blond ranger suspiciously. "What were you doing with those beans? And Sydney, what are you doing? You're supposed to have that ankle propped up."
"I wasn't doing anything," Gage replied sheepishly.
"Mmm hmm," Alex hummed, her eyebrow raised skeptically. "Quality control?" she asked, causing Gage to blush bright red. He shoved the bowl back in the refrigerator and slammed the door.
"I was only trying to protect the contents of your refrigerator," Sydney answered with a laugh, "given that I have weaponry!" She waved a crutch menacingly toward Gage while he feigned fear.
"You two," Alex laughed. "You are just too much. Lucky for you, Gage, I had to stop by CD's and Marta sent sandwiches," she dug into one of the bags on the kitchen table and produced two paper-wrapped packages. "Maybe this will hold you over until everyone gets here and Walker puts the burgers on the grill?"
Gage grinned. "I wonder if Marta knows she's my favorite person today?" he said with a wink towards Sydney.
"Careful there," Sydney waved her crutch at Gage again. "You don't want me to beat you with my crutches!"
"That's the only way you can beat me, and I have one arm tied in front of me!" Gage challenged.
"Just you wait until I'm off these things. We'll spar and we'll see who beats who!" Sydney teased back.
Alex shook her head, setting her blond curls dancing. "When did I suddenly go from having one child to having three? You two are impossible!"
As friends and colleagues arrived at the Walker ranch, the sound of laughter and the aroma of charcoal and burgers grilling filled the air. Connie Jensen arrived with her famous chocolate cake. Trivette and his fiancée Erika soon followed with Erika bringing a huge bowl of potato salad. The table of food was quickly filling and Gage's stomach was growling.
"I can't wait to try one of those burgers and some of Erika's potato salad," he said as he stood by while Walker manned the grill.
"Everything looks delicious," Walker agreed.
"Especially that chocolate cake," Gage craned his neck to get a better look at the cake Connie was cutting into pieces.
"Speaking of that," Walker handed Gage the tongs. "Keep an eye on the grill. I want to go set aside my piece of cake now."
"What for?" Gage asked.
"Because once you get to it, there might not be any left!" Walker laughed.
"Funny. Real funny." Gage groused. He was about to complain about Walker kicking a guy when he was already down and injured – why not milk that shoulder injury for all he could get out of it – when he and Walker both were distracted by a dark-colored sedan slowly pulling up to the Walkers' house.
"Who's that?" Gage asked. "I don't recognize the car."
"Me either," Walker said, his brow knitted in confusion. His look of confusion turned to recognition when the two men stepped out of the car and waved his direction.
"Lucas! Morelli!" Walker called out. "Come on over and get yourselves a burger!"
Walker left Gage in charge of the grill and went off to introduce the two FBI agents to the rest of the guests. He then brought them around to meet Gage and Sydney.
"So you two are the two rangers we searched half of New Mexico for!" Agent Lucas greeted each ranger and shook their hands.
"We thank you both for all your hard work trying to find us," Sydney said. "That was the craziest week we ever had."
"It's about to get crazier," Agent Morelli spoke up. "We found something you might be interested in." He went back to the car and returned with both of their wallets and badges.
"Where did you find those?" Gage asked.
"We picked up a guy trying to use your credit card in Las Cruces. Do you recognize this guy by any chance? His name is Shawn Hobart." Morelli showed Gage and Sydney a photograph.
"Hobie!" Gage and Sydney exclaimed at the same time.
"There was another guy with him, went by Winger. Once we took him in, he spilled his guts. Told us Hobart stole a duffel bag with all your belongings and that you came to their camp by the train yard. He also told us that Hobart called in a tip on you," Morelli nodded to Sydney. "Said he was going to get ten grand for turning you in." Morelli produced the photocopied 'wanted' sign with Sydney's picture that Hobie had taken from the six pack shop.
"So that's how they found us on the train," Sydney breathed. Suddenly everything started making sense.
By then, nearly all the other guests had gathered around and were asking questions and Sydney and Gage had a lot of questions for Lucas and Morelli.
"Maybe we should fill up some plates and start from the beginning," Gage suggested.
With everyone gathered around them at the table, Gage and Sydney began to tell their story between bites of delicious burgers and picnic food.
"It was supposed to be a routine suspect transport," Sydney said, dabbing her lips with a napkin. "We thought the worst part of it was putting up with Johnny Leftall hollering about his rights the whole way to New Mexico. That man was a royal pain."
"We dropped him off and everything seemed okay, "Gage continued. "Only I forgot to ask where we could get our flat tire fixed and I had to go back into the border patrol building. That's when I saw somebody shoot Johnny, and apparently they saw me see them do it. They chased us out of town and the spare tire blew. We were stuck. Had I not gone to ask about that damn tire, we wouldn't have spent a week roaming around the desert hiding from the Chief and his henchmen."
And I wouldn't have had the most incredible week of my life with the most amazing woman in the world, he thought to himself as he caught Sydney giving him a little smile.
Sydney continued, telling how Gage had been grazed by a bullet in the shootout and how they ended up in another shootout in the truck stop diner.
"Oh, yeah," Trivette chimed in. "That one waitress really liked you, Gage. We heard all about it. She said you were bee-you-tee-full!" Trivette emphasized each syllable of the word, wiggling his eyebrows for effect. Everyone at the table laughed. "Seriously, though, how did Sydney end up wanted for attempted murder? I saw that news bulletin and about died from shock. Our Syd? Holy crap!"
"What?" Erika's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Yeah. Pretty sure that was the Chief's doing. It was after we got a ride from some guy I thought was safe. Turned out he worked for the Chief," Gage explained. "We were just trying to get out of a rainstorm. This guy –"
"Orville." Sydney interjected.
"Yeah, Orville. He picked us up and said he'd drive us to the next town. He was asking all about us and Sydney made up this story –"
"Hello, I'm Selena and this is my fiancé Curtis," Sydney launched into her story in the same thick Hispanic accent she used when they'd met up with Orville. "We're going to Las Vegas to get married. See, my daddy don't like Curtis and he won't let me marry him, so we're eloping. And I always wanted to get married by Elvis in a little white wedding chapel in Las Vegas." She leaned her head against Gage's shoulder and gazed up at him, batting her eyes furiously. The entire table erupted in laughter.
"You didn't!" Alex gasped between fits of giggles.
"She did," Gage replied.
"That's nothing! Gage told him his shoulder wound was the result of a bar fight he got into defending me," Sydney said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.
"Well, Orville didn't buy it. He recognized us and said he was going to kill us. Pulled out this whopper of a knife," Gage continued the story, "We're talking a Crocodile Dundee-style hunting knife. So Syd pulls her gun and tells him to pull over. He doesn't, so next thing I know, as we're coming up on an underpass, Syd manages to mash the gas pedal and yanks the steering wheel and crashes us into the underpass. Knocked Orville out cold and we got out of there and got to this nasty little motel in Sundown. Orville must have went right to the Chief when he got his shit back together because next thing we knew, Sydney's face is on TV and these two guys are beating down every door in the place. We had to haul ass out the bathroom window."
"That explains the mess in the motel room," Walker said, nodding to Trivette.
Sydney and Gage told about finding the abandoned shack only to be found by the Chief's three goons with the ATV. They told how they used the ATV to travel to their next stopping point and how they camped out for the day in the abandoned church where Gage cut Sydney's hair.
"I was wondering when you had time to get that fabulous haircut," Erika mused. "All that time spent on the run and you look amazing." She leaned across the table to brush her fingers through the ends of Sydney's bob-length hair.
"I'm going to grow it back," Sydney said. "I only did it out of necessity. It was the one thing I could do to change my looks and keep us safe after that stupid news bulletin." She gave Gage a smile she hoped nobody else would understand.
She did that for me, Gage thought. Gage felt a strange sensation in his stomach. So that's what butterflies feel like was his next thought. Gage decided he liked the feeling and wouldn't mind if he felt that every day for the rest of his life.
"I vote for keeping it short," Erika announced. "It looks great on you."
Gage told how he'd learned the unconventional field first aid trick of using a needle and thread to stitch wounds in the service and how he had Sydney stitch his shoulder wound closed. The story was met by gasps of surprise and shock.
"I'm never doing that again," Sydney announced. "Now I know why I went into law enforcement and not medicine."
"How did the train figure into all this?" Walker asked.
Sydney and Gage told about camping out under the highway ramps and waking to find their go-bag gone. They explained how they were trying to get downtown to the library to use the computer to email Alex for help and had stumbled onto the camp and met Newill, Crystal, Hobie and Winger.
"So Hobie stole our bag," Gage mused. "You know," he turned to Sydney, "there was something about him I didn't trust from the moment we met him."
"Same here. He seemed shady," Sydney agreed.
"You didn't happen to pick up another guy and girl with him?" Gage asked Agent Morelli. He hoped not. Newill wasn't one of the bad guys, and he was sure Crystal wasn't bad either, just a troubled girl he hoped would soon find her way home.
"No. Just those two."
"You really hopped onto a train, like the hoboes did back in the day?" Connie Jensen seemed shocked and a little amused by the idea.
"It was rather fun," Gage said. "Seems there's a lot of people all over the country that do it. Newill said he got the idea from reading his grandfather's journal. He's riding around taking pictures and writing about it in his own journal. He's going to write a book contrasting his notes and his grandfather's notes. I'd love to read it one day. I bet it will be fascinating."
"It sounds like it," Alex agreed. "But how did you get Sydney to agree to the idea?"
"I had no choice," Sydney replied, "and Gage said it was a hell of a long walk to Dallas." Her response was met with laughter.
"Really, though," Sydney continued, "it wasn't bad. It was actually the best part of the trip, until all the lead started flying." She bumped Gage's knee under the table with hers and gave him that smile again.
Yes, yes it was, Gage thought, feeling the butterflies in his stomach once again.
"What I want to know," Sydney announced, "is how you found out that Sheriff Pickford was the Chief?"
Walker, Trivette and Lucas began to explain about the phone call using Company E's call analysis software, about going to Rowdy's bar where Sharon Felder was killed and what Rocco Lipari told them, and about Patrick Ortiz turning up dead and going to Will Aquilino's house where they heard the phone message. Walker told about hearing Pickford's conversation with Will on the train and how Pickford had shot Will.
From there, Agent Lucas took over the story.
"We've been tailing the drug activity in the southwest for some time. We had our eye on a dealer named Alejandro Cabal and knew he was getting his supply from Johnny Leftall, but we had no idea who was supplying Leftall. Leftall was just the runner. We doubted – and we're pretty sure now after we searched his house and after all we turned up in this case – that Johnny probably had no idea who exactly he was working for up until the day he met Pickford and Pickford killed him. We think, based on what Rocco Lipari told Walker and Trivette, that Ms. Felder would recruit runners for Pickford. She'd meet them at Rowdy's, fill them in on the job and give them a number to call. They'd call, be told where and when to pick up a shipment and where to take it to, and when they made the delivery, they'd get paid. The runners never saw anyone. They just saw the product.
"Pickford was running the drugs through the border patrol office. It was the perfect front, and he was able to run probably millions of dollars' worth of drugs through that office that were eventually distributed throughout the southwest. He was, effectively, one of the biggest drug kingpins we've taken down in the history of the agency. Pickford knew people and with his being sheriff, nobody ever suspected him. He had Patrick Ortiz help get the office set up. Took us a while to find the connection with Ortiz, but it turns out, Pickford had worked with Ortiz's dad years ago on the police force. When Ortiz's dad died, Pickford stepped in as a father figure. He was pretty disappointed when Ortiz got messed up on drugs and said if he helped him out and got him back into the DA's office, Ortiz would owe him. Ortiz would get Pickford's men off if they got arrested, he wrote up fake paperwork for him, he had fines dismissed, he did everything he could to keep Pickford's operation running and in return, Pickford endorsed the hell out of him. Got him back into the DA's office and nobody thought any better of it. Everyone thought these two were a crime-fighting machine. Up until now, nobody had a clue they were as dirty as they came."
"But what was Johnny Leftall doing selling cornstarch?" Alex asked. It was a question that had puzzled her since the day they'd brought Leftall in for questioning.
"We think Johnny decided he wanted in on the action, and that he was cutting the coke with cornstarch so he could take half the coke to keep for himself to sell on the side. Only, he didn't know that somebody from the cartel – and we're still trying to figure out who that might be – decided to screw with Pickford, I don't know, maybe Pickford pissed them off or something, and started sending pure cornstarch instead of coke. When Johnny started splitting those blocks of coke with cornstarch, he had no idea he was cutting cornstarch with more cornstarch."
There were snickers all around the table.
"He really was the dumbest drug dealer ever to come to Dallas," Alex mused.
"Yes, and it got him killed," Walker noted.
"So why did Pickford kill Ortiz?" Erika asked.
"We think it's because we came across the fact that he was the one that requisitioned the border patrol office and we were about to question him about it. Pickford was afraid he'd talk. It's the same reason he ordered a hit on Sharon Felder. He knew we found out that Johnny Leftall frequented Rowdy's and he was worried Sharon would talk, too."
"She was about to," Walker said.
"Yeah," Trivette agreed. "All it took was someone to buy her a drink to get her lips going."
"Apparently she liked to drink and talk," Lucas added. "It's a shame you couldn't have gotten her to talk more."
"Rocco Lipari told us enough. It's a shame he went into hiding," Walker said. "I wonder if he'll come back if he knows Pickford's locked up."
"It would be a huge help to our case if he did. We don't need him, but every bit of evidence we can get against Pickford means the longer he'll be put away and the less chance he'll ever stand of being a free man," Lucas replied.
Sydney listened intently, shaking her head. "They don't write TV crime dramas with this many twists and turns," she said. "This is insane. I can't believe that what was supposed to be a simple suspect transport would lead to breaking such a huge case. Or that we were right in the middle of it, nearly got killed how many times, and had no idea what was going on." For a quick moment, Sydney rested her hand on Gage's knee under the table where nobody could see and looked up at him, her dark eyes brimming with tears.
Gage squeezed her shoulders in a quick hug. "The important thing is, Syd, we're both home safe and we'll be back to work soon. We had one hell of an adventure, and while I can't say I'd like to do all of it all over again, I will say that if I ever find myself stranded in the middle of nowhere again, I hope I have you to count on the next time, too."
"If it wasn't for you two, we never would have cracked this case. You led us right where we needed to go," Agent Lucas pointed out. "No wonder Walker was so determined to find you two. Makes me wish you were federal agents instead of Rangers. Any chance of switching career paths?"
"That's very flattering, but I think I'm content to stay right here in Dallas," Sydney replied.
"Yeah, me too," Gage added. "Took us a hell of a time to get back here!"
"Well, then," Lucas raised his drink in salute. "To Sydney and Gage!"
"Here, here!" came the replies from around the table.
Gage appeared at the door with a plate in hand. Alex had chased him out of the kitchen, but not before giving him one more slice of Connie Jensen's chocolate cake. Sydney slid over on the porch swing, moving her crutches out of the way to make room for him.
"Where's mine?" she asked, eyeing the large slab of fudgy decadence.
"I only have one hand to carry a plate." Gage replied.
"Oh, well, then I guess this is mine then," Sydney reached for the plate.
"Oh, no you don't!" Gage held the plate out of her reach.
"Now you're just being mean!"
Gage offered a forkful of cake to Sydney who opened her mouth to him like a baby bird. "Am I now?" he asked as she took a bite of cake.
"Mmm mmm," she mumbled as thoughts ran through her head. Cake. Wedding cake. Little white wedding chapels and Elvis.
From inside, Alex could see Sydney and Gage sitting close together on the porch swing. They were talking in low whispers, laughing and smiling, and Alex could have sworn she saw them kiss. Finally! She had always thought Sydney and Gage would be perfect together and she'd thrown a few hints their direction but neither one seemed to take the bait. She'd even paired them up at her wedding, and still nothing happened. She was starting to think she was going to have to take the more direct approach, maybe even the baseball-bat-upside-the-head approach, to make those two see that they were meant for each other but it looked like maybe they had finally figured it out for themselves. Alex smiled to herself. At least Walker wouldn't give her any grief about playing matchmaker and she could just sit back and wait to help plan a fantastic wedding. She was looking forward to that, especially now that Jimmy and Erika had this crazy notion about eloping.
"What are you smiling about?"
Alex jumped, nearly dropping the coffee mug in her hand. She hadn't heard Walker come in from the barn, and his question startled her.
"Hi, honey." Alex greeted her husband with a kiss. She nodded to the porch. "Those two. It's about time, don't you think?"
Walker leaned against the doorway and watched his two junior rangers for a few moments as they were all but snuggled together on the porch swing. He grinned and shook his head. He figured as much. It had only been a matter of time.
"They're just the cutest couple," Alex gushed. "I'm so happy they finally figured out that they're meant for each other."
"Yeah. It's a shame, though, that the department has rules about fraternization," Walker replied, a serious look on his face.
"Walker! You wouldn't dare!"
"Rules are rules, Alex. I should probably go have a talk with them now before this gets too out of hand."
Alex's eyes flashed fire. "Cordell Walker, if you even think of enforcing those rules, you'll be sleeping in that barn."
"Of course," Walker paused thoughtfully, "I could just have them switch partners, split them up at work. Maybe Gage could work with Jimmy and Sydney could work with me."
"Walker." Alex's voice was stern.
"Yes, Alex?"
"You had better hope that Amigo doesn't snore."
Walker laughed and pulled Alex into a hug as she tried to duck away. "I'm just teasing, Alex! I am pretty sure the department can overlook the rules for those two. We've all only been rooting for them ever since they were first partnered up. Besides, I don't know anyone else besides Sydney who can keep Gage in line, do you?"
Alex playfully swatted her husband on the arm. "Oh, Walker!" She laughed, kissing him. "I have a feeling we'll be planning another wedding before too long!"
Walker returned the kiss before responding. "I have a feeling you're right."
"Do you think they figured it out?" Sydney asked. "I feel like everyone was watching us and they all know what's going on."
"They were watching us because we were telling them what happened. That's all," Gage answered.
"You didn't feel uncomfortable?"
"Me? No. You worry too much, Syd."
"I'm just worried about what Walker will say."
"Maybe we should tell him. First thing tomorrow, let's tell him. Worst thing he can do is fire one of us, or both of us. "
"That's pretty bad," Sydney pointed out.
"We're both off work right now as it is. How much worse can it get?"
"I guess you're right."
"Syd, it's not like we don't have options. We'll make it work. You need to quit worrying."
"I can't help it. I am worried."
"Well help it. Quit worrying. Because I can't kiss you when you're telling me how worried you are."
Sydney started to say something but Gage silenced any further comment from her with a kiss.
"See? See how much better things are when you don't worry?"
"I guess you're right," Sydney laughed. "Oh, could you hand me my phone?" Sydney pointed to the stand next to the porch swing.
Gage handed her the cell phone. "You better not be calling Kevin," he teased.
"I'm not. I'm putting you in my speed dial."
"What for? Didn't you say I wasn't in your speed dial because I'm always with you?"
"Yes, but I figure it's about time."
"Well, I figure it's about pointless," Gage answered, taking the cell phone away from Sydney and kissing her again.
"Why's that?" Sydney asked when they broke off the kiss.
"Because you won't ever have a need to call me if I'm never away from you,"
"Is that right?" Sydney asked.
"Yes it is. And for the record, I don't ever plan on being away from you," Gage replied before wrapping his arms around Sydney and pulling her close for a long, slow kiss.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you all so much for reading and staying with this story even though it took me so long to finish it! I really appreciate all the reviews and messages. I'd like to wish all of you the happiest of holidays! If you haven't read any of my other stories, please do! I have more stories in mind and hope to bring them to you in the new year!